Freedom's Father
by Iluna Sorgina Talis
Summary: Based on a Tumblr headcanon: "Nations can have children, but most don't live past the age of eleven and are very sickly." Freedom Amelia Brandt is one such child, but she's very lucky to be celebrating her 12th birthday in three days. Her early birthday present is going to the White House with her class and seeing someone she only knows from pictures-her daddy, Alfred F. Jones.
1. Prologue

"If only your dad could see you now."

Mom's been saying that ever since I was little. After she'd say it she'd get a pretty, sad smile on her face (Mom's smiles are always pretty, no matter how sad they are) and she'd sigh really loudly. I can tell she misses my dad a lot, but she hasn't seen him since I was a baby. Mom told me that he came to visit me in the hospital after I was born and on my first birthday, but he hasn't visited since. I like to pretend he's watching over me from far away and saying "Freedom, I'm really really proud of you," with that big smile on his face.

Dad has a nice smile-Mom would show me pictures of them together before I was born and he's smiling in every one she showed me. It's a handsome smile, just like him. Mom says I have his eyes, but I think she's only talking about the color. We both have blue eyes, but mind don't sparkle like his. They twinkle up at you out of the photos, like you told him a really funny joke and he liked it a lot. Mom says he had a nice laugh too, and I believe her. Everything about him is handsome so I bet his laugh is too.

Mom's been saying "if only he could see you now" a lot lately. I think it's because he left again on my birthday, and it's in three days. I'm really excited for my birthday, but I'm kind of sad too. I'm excited because 12 is a VERY important number! And my class is going on a field trip to the White house! I love Social Studies and stuff like that, so it's going to be awesome! But I'm really sad because my dad won't be there when I get back from the field trip. I want to tell him all about it, especially if we meet the President (Mom says the President may be too busy, but that would still be really cool!).

Going to the White House is a big dream for me, and it's coming true! People say that dreams don't come true, but mine have been! I've had this dream and one other one come true, but I really want a couple more to come true. My first one is I want to see my daddy again. I don't remember him at all, and I want to see him really bad. My second one is that I don't want to be in a wheelchair anymore. I've been really sick since I was little, and I want to be all better so I can live longer. My second dream that came true was having an 11th birthday party. I wasn't supposed to live past that.

If we see the president, maybe I can ask him if he can tell the doctors to find a way to make me all better. That way I can get out of my wheelchair and run around and play sports like my friends. And maybe I can ask him one more question. I wrote it down on a piece of paper in case I get nervous or forget what I wanted to say: "Mr. President, my name is Freedom Amelia Brandt, and I'm eleven years old. My birthday is in three days. Could you help me find my dad so he can come to my birthday party? His name is Alfred F. Jones."

* * *

**A new story! I just wanted to get this down before I totally forgot it. I'll be working on it as well as Change of Plans, but school is being really...well, let's just say Mum's not too happy with my grades...heh heh...but I'll still be updating when I can!**

**On a happier note...I got accepted to the college I wanted over the weekend! :D I'm super excited!**


	2. The Man With No Suit

After three REALLY long days, my birthday finally came. I was finally twelve years old! And even better, today was the day of the class field trip to the White House. We were waiting outside in our jackets and scarves and playing in the Fall leaves. That's something I like about my birthday-it's like the trees decorate themselves in really bright colors just to tell me "Happy Birthday."

"Quiet down, everyone, I'm taking roll." Miss Jennings waited for all 18 of us to be quiet before she called our names. She looked down at her folder and went down the list with her pink pencil. "Lisa Austin," she called.

"Here, Miss Jennings!" Lisa said, raising her hand. Lisa's my best friend-she usually helps me push my wheelchair.

"Robert Baxter."

"Here, Miss Jennings," said Robert quietly. He doesn't talk a lot in class, so we sometimes forget he's there. Lisa usually doesn't though-I think it's because she likes him.

"Freedom Brandt."

I raised my hand a little. "Here, Miss Jennings!" I told her as loudly as I could, which was about as loud as Robert. She smiled at me and my birthday pin, then she told me Happy Birthday again. I smiled back as big as I could-Miss Jennings was my favorite teacher. My entire class thought she was a really nice teacher too. She can make anyone smile, even when we're having a bad day.

"Marcus Calton."

"Here, Miss Jennings!"

I turned in my wheelchair to whisper to Lisa while Miss Jennings finished taking roll. "You're still coming to my party, right?" I asked her excitedly.

Lisa nodded really fast. "Yeah!" she whispered back, her brown eyes big and excited. "You're going to love your present! I picked it out myself!" She put a finger over her mouth and grinned at me. "But don't ask me what it is," she said, "'cause it's a secret!" We giggled really quietly so Miss Jennings wouldn't hear us making noise during the roll. She's really nice, but she's also very strict too. She doesn't like when people talk really loudly over her.

"And Meg Westerfield."

"Here, Miss Jennings!" Meg has a really squeaky voice, kind of like a mouse.

Miss Jennings closed her folder and put it in her big bag. I really liked this bag-it had a picture of a little girl with a crown on her head, and it said "I'm the queen of the world" on it. "Everyone stay with your buddy," she said, tucking her shiny black hair behind her ear. "Stay in line and don't wander off, okay?" We all nodded and I took the brakes off my chair. Lisa got behind my chair and helped push me behind Miss Jennings. That's one good thing about being in my chair-Lisa and I always get to go first in line.

There were lots of people in suits going up and down the stairs of the White House. I'd never seen so many people wearing black in my entire life! Lisa said that they all looked like penguins, which made me giggle. Imagine a bunch of penguins working for the president-that would be really silly! We got to go up a long ramp instead of all of those stairs, which I thought was really cool. When we got inside we saw a lot more people in suits walking around and talking to each other. Lisa and I giggled again-that sure was a lot of penguins!

"Hey, look over there!" Danny Chesterson exclaimed. He's got really really blonde hair that looks almost white. He was pointing over at a really tall man who had his back to us. "That guy isn't wearing a suit!" The man was wearing dark blue jeans and a pair of real cowboy boots. He had a big leather jacket on with the number 50 written on the back in big white numbers. I stared at him kind of hard because I thought I recognized that jacket. Then I remembered-my dad had worn a jacket like that in lots of Mom's pictures.

The man must have heard what Danny said, because he suddenly turned around and looked right at us with a big grin on his face. Danny gulped as he started walking over and I gasped when I saw his face. He had slightly messy blonde hair with a lock of hair that stuck straight up-_just like mine._ He had bright blue eyes and wore glasses-_just like in the pictures._ He was smiling at Danny, but not in a scary way. It was like Danny had said a really funny joke and he was just coming over to say that he liked it.

_Just like in the pictures._

The man bent down to look at Danny and winked at him. "I'm not wearing a suit because they're really uncomfortable!" he told him proudly. "Plus, I can't wear this jacket with one because my boss'll get mad at me." Danny said "Oh!" when he understood why he wasn't dressed like the other people in here and the man stood back up and looked at all of us with that big grin on his face. "Class field trip?" The class nodded and his smile got even bigger. "That's really cool! You guys are gonna love it here-there's all sorts of cool stuff to look at!"

"Do you have any particular things you want us to look at, Mr...?" Miss Jennings asked, trying not to smile (it wasn't working, though).

"The name's Jones, ma'am," the man said proudly, putting his hands in his pockets. "Alfred Jones. And I'd be more than happy to give you guys a tour of the White House hotspots!"

* * *

**Author's note: *flails* I was not expecting such enthusiastic responses! Thank you so much, you guys! :D :D There were two of you that I saw are just guest reviewers so I couldn't message you back, but I have your answers right here!**

**To Guest: In regards to your question about pairings-uh...I'm not sure...? I mean, Freedom's too little to be paired with anyone at the moment, and I don't know about any others...maybe a touch of a few pairings I like, but only a touch. They wouldn't be the main focus. And you're not a brat-even I'll admit that it was a shorter chapter than normal. :P**

**To Reader: Thank you so much for your compliment! :D Yeah, Freedom's freakin' adorable, isn't she? :3**

**I will do my best to reply to any and all new reviews I receive. If I missed you for some reason, feel free to just drop a line to remind me. I don't bite, I promise, and I'd love to hear from you.**

**Until next time!**


End file.
